University of Nebraska, Expense

The expense of a postsecondary education
was once considerably less than it is today. The original charter
granted the University of Nebraska in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature
provided for a matriculation fee of only five dollars, with tuition
and other fees to be left to the discretion of the regents.

H. W. Caldwell, in a paper read before
the Nebraska State Historical Society, January 8, 1889, discussed
this and other features of the University of Nebraska and other
postsecondary schools existing in the state before 1889 (Transactions
and Reports, Vol. III, 1892). Caldwell pointed out that the
University of Nebraska charter directed the regents to purchase
textbooks and furnish them to the students at cost.

"Various attempts were made in the
early days of the university to live up to this requirement,
but nothing seems to have been accomplished except to make arrangements
with the bookdealers to secure a certain per cent reduction for
the students. Several committees were appointed, and several
reports were made, but the problem seems to have been too complex
to solve satisfactorily, and it was finally abandoned entirely.
. . .

"In the session of the board of June
13, 1871, the tuition of students from other states was fixed
at eight dollars per term, but in 1873, on the recommendation
of Chancellor [A. R.] Benton, the University was made free to
all who were qualified to do its work satisfactorily. An incidental
fee of two dollars per term was imposed on all students from
June 1876 to June 1879. With these two exceptions no charges
have been made in the University of Nebraska except for laboratory
expenses. In very few, if in any of the other state universities,
are the terms so liberal for the student."